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DO  MISSIONS  PAY? 


OR  THE 


COMMERCIAL  VALUE,  COMMERCIAL  ADVANTAGES,  AND 
THE  SUCCESSES  OF  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS. 


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DO  MISSIONS  PAT? 


OR  THE 


COMMERCIAL  VALUE,  COMMERCIAL  ADVANTAGES,  AND 
THE  SUCCESSES  OF  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS. 


BY 

Rev.  GEORGE  HOOD, 
Chester,  Pa. 


NEW  YORK: 

MISSION  HOUSE,  23  CENTRE  STREET. 

1872. 


DO  MISSIONS  PAY? 


Americans  are  peculiarly  practical ;  they  examine  an  enterprise  to  see 
if  it  will  pay  ;  if  it  will,  they  give  it  their  hearty  approval  and  co-opera¬ 
tion.  The  question  of  missions  is  not  an  exception.  Home  Missions  long 
ago  were  universally  acknowledged  to  be  not  only  a  necessary,  but  a  paying 
investment.  Foreign  Missions  have  not  so  generally  come  to  that  point  of 
acceptance  ;  but  they  will  bear  satisfactorily  the  same  tests. 

It  is  the  design  of  these  pages  to  look  at 

I.  The  Commercial  Value  of  Missions. 

II.  Incidental  Advantages  of  Missions. 

TTI.  Their  Direct  Successes. 


I.  the  commercial  value  of  missions. 


I 


The  day  we  Christianize  a  heathen,  we  create  in  him  a  desire  for  a  better 
physical  condition.  One  of  the  first  manifestations  for  good  among  the 
Sandwich  Islanders,  was  the  desire  for  clothing.  The  same  is  seen  in 
other  missions.  In  Africa  the  naked  Grebbo  buys  an  English  silk  hat,  and 
regards  himself  as  dressed,  until  his  ideas  of  propriety  demand  additional  / 
articles  of  clothing.  They  see  in  the  mission  dwelling  and  family,  that  , 
civilization  is  better  than  savagism ;  industry,  than  idleness  ;  and  cleanli-  J 
ness,  than  filth.  So  they  seek  knowledge,  and  begin  to  adopt  the  ameni¬ 
ties  of  life.  Their  laziness  gradually  disappears,  and  with  it  their  utter  desti¬ 
tution.  Soap  obtained  from  America  is  used  to  remove  their  superabund  j 
ant  dirt.  They  see  the  impropriety  of  nakedness,  and  cloth  and  clothing  are 
required  of  our  manufacturers.  Instead  of  floorless  and  windowless  huts, 
they  aspire  to  houses  with  doors,  windows,  floors  and  furniture  ;  and  com-  f 
merce  supplies  this  from  a  nail  to  a  sofa.  Husbandry  is  improved,  and  all 
kinds  of  farming  implements,  as  plows,  hoes,  shovels,  forks,  etc.,  are  de¬ 
manded,  so  that  the  value  of  plows  alone  exported  from  Boston  to  the 
Zulus  in  1870,  amounted  to  more  than  all  that  was  expended  on  that  mis¬ 
sion  during  that  year.  “  One  missionary  at  Harpoot,  East  Turkey,  has  or¬ 
dered,  for  natives  in  that  region,  more  than  a  hundred  fanning  mills.  In. 
deed,  all  sorts  of  implements  for  use  in  agriculture  and  in  the  mechanic 
arts,  and  school  furniture,  to  the  amount  of  thousands  of  dollars  a  year- 
are  passing  through  the  mission  house  at  Boston,  ordered  and  paid  for  by 
the  natives  at  the  instance  of  the  missionaries.” 

There  is  an  increasing  demand  from  the  countries  where  we  have  mis- 


n 


4 


DO  MISSIONS  PAY? 


sions,  for  almost  every  kind  of  manufacture.  During  the  year  ending 
I  June,  1871,  twenty-five  grain-mills,  the  first  reaper,  two  Lamb’s  knitting 
machines,  and  a  hundred  dollars’  worth  of  out-line  maps  were  sent  to  East 
Turkey  ;  improved  plows,  mowing  and  reaping  machines  to  Turkey  and 
South  Africa ;  seventy-five  sets  of  out-line  maps  to  Ceylon,  with  sewing 
machines  and  cabinet  organs  to  various  fields.  Such  improvements  have 
created  a  commerce  amounting  to  $4,406,426,  with  the  Sandwich  Islands 
|  alone  ;*  while  the  whole  expenditure  for  Foreign  Missions,  by  all  denomina¬ 
tions  in  our  country  was,  in  1870,  only  $1,633,891,  less  than  one  and  three- 
fourths  millions  against  a  trade  of  $4,406,426 ;  which  trade  has  been 
created  by  our  missions,  and  one-half  of  which  is  with  the  different  ports 
of  the  United  States.  Now  $4,406,426  to  $1,633,891  is  nearly  as  eleven  to 
four  ;  that  is,  we  pay  out  four  dollars  for  missions  in  all  the  world,  and 
t  commerce  receives  in  return  trade,  eleven  dollars  from  the  one  mission  of 
'  the  Sandwich  Islands. 

Again,  the  whole  cost  of  the  A.  B.  C.  F.  M.  for  the  year  1871,  for  all  its 
missions,  was  $420,844.  The  profit  on  the  trade  with  the  Sandwich  Islands 
I  for  1871,  at  15  per  cent.,  would  be  $660,964.  But  $420,844  to  $660,964  is 
as  two  to  three,  nearly.  Now,  if  all  the  profit  of  that  trade  for  the  year 
1871,  were  given  to  the  A.  B.  C.  F.  M.,  whose  missionaries  have  created  it, 
it  would  pay  the  expenses  of  all  their  missions  for  1872,  and  leave  a  surplus 
of  $240,120  to  enlarge  their  operations  more  than  one-half. 

Again,  the  whole  amount  expended  on  the  Sandwich  Island  missions, 
from  the  beginning,  is  $1,250,000.  The  profit  on  the  trade  with  the  Is¬ 
lands,  as  above,  at  15  per  cent.,  would  be  $660,964,  which  is  53  per  cent,  of 
the  entire  cost  of  civilizing  and  Christianizing  that  people  ;  or  the  profits 
of  the  commerce,  which  the  mission  has  made,  would  now  pay  the  whole 
expense,  from  the  beginning,  in  less  than  two  years. 

Again,  the  commerce  between  the  British  Possessions  in  Africa  and  the 
ports  of  New  England,  during  the  year  ending  June  30,  1871,  amounted 
to  $2,671,913.f  Fifteen  per  cent,  gain  on  the  trade  gives  $400,786  profit. 
The  whole  amount  expended  by  the  American  Board,  in  all  its  missions,  the 
same  year,  was  only  $420,844 ;  so  that  New  England  received  in  real  gain, 
from  Africa  alone,  within  $20,000  as  much  as  the  American  Board  expended 
on  all  its  Foreign  missions  in  the  whole  world  ;  and  probably  $75,000  more 
than  the  people  of  New  England  gave  to  support  that  Board. 

But  there  are  large  exportations  to  Africa, f  Syria,  Northern  Turkey, 
India,  the  Islands  of  the  Pacific  and  many  other  ports.  We  have  no  means 
of  knowing  the  extent  of  this  commerce,  which  Christian  missions  have 
created,  but  from  the  facts  already  given,  we  confidently  claim,  that  the 
gains  of  trade  are  many  times  greater  than  the  cost  of  missions.  These 
exports  have  brought  increased  business  profits  to  our  manufacturers  ;  they 
have  given  work  and  competence  to  our  mechanics ;  they  have  added  to 
the  business  of  railroads  and  vessels,  increasing  the  wealth  of  individuals, 
*  Annual  Report  of  A.  B.  C.  F.  M.,  1870.  p,  91.  f  See  Appendix— Table  II. 


DO  MISSIONS  PAY? 


5 


companies  and  the  nation.  It  has  been  estimated  that  for  every  dollar 
England  expends  in  missions,  she  receives  ten  back  in  trade.  We  are  send¬ 
ing  to  mission  fields  for  the  natives,  in  sufficient  quantities  to  be  noticed, 
farming  implements,  machinery,  furniture,  household  utensils  and  conven¬ 
iences,  clothing,  books  and  various  other  articles ;  and  we  receive  from 
them  importations  of  native  productions.  These  increase  commerce,  and 
commerce  enriches  a  nation  by  its  transportation,  by  the  sale  of  its  exports 
and  imports,  by  revenue  on  imported  articles,  and  by  its  competition,  giv¬ 
ing  better  articles  or  cheaper  rates. 

We  affirm,  then,  that  missions  do  pay,  cent  for  cent,  dollar  for  dollar ; 
two,  five ,  ten  dollars  per  dollar  even  now,  and  that  every  year  their  commer¬ 
cial  value  shows  an  increasing  ratio. 


H.  INCIDENTAL  ADVANTAGES  OF  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS. 


Suppose 


•6es.  suppose  a  vessel  sailing  from 
moisco,  to  experience  heavy  adverse  winds,  with  severe 


The  first  advantage,  though  not  the  greatest,  we  shall  mention,  is  that 
Christian  Missions  produce  and  provide  safe  Christian  ports.  Our  vessels 
are  scattered  ever  every  ocean  and  sea,  and  nowhere  are  they  free  from 
disasters.  In  all  waters  ports  are  needed  in  which  to  repair  damages,  refit 
and  take  in  water  and  provisions.  Eat  it  needs  no  argument  to  prove  that 
this  is  next  to  impossible  among  s 
Sumatra  to  San  Era] 
storms,  her  spars  carried  away,  her  provisions  short,  and  pumps  at  work, 
how  they  would,  rejoice  to  make  a  Christian  port  of  Micronesia,  or  reach 
Honolulu  ?  What  could  savages  do  for  them  ?  Could  they  supply  medi¬ 
cines  and  nursing  for  the  sick,  rigging  or  sails  for  the  ship,  or  provisions 
for  the  future  voyage  ?  But  at  Honolulu,*  a  Christian  port  of  only  thirty 
years,  the  work  of  missionary  effort,  every  needed  thing  for  the  ship  or 
crew,  can  he  as  readily  supplied  as  in  Philadelphia.  The  voyage  to  and 
from  China,  for  sailing  vessels,  is  long  and  irksome,  and  it  is  all  the  easier 
and  safer,  for  these  Christian  ports,  all  the  more  endurable  and  healthy,  for 
the  fresh  provisions  and  water,  now  easily  obtained,  where  the  missionary 
has  not  only  brought  in  Christianity,  but  trade  and  commerce  as  well.  We 
aver  that  the  mere  commercial  advantage  of  these  Christian  ports,  by  fur¬ 
nishing  to  commerce  comparative  safety,  comfort  and  health,  is  a  good  in¬ 
vestment  of  money,  giving  back  ten-fold  more,  every  year,  than  the  entire 
aggregate  of  their  cost. 

But  the  same  Christian  ports  are  needed  at  Alaska  and  on  the  Fox  Is¬ 
lands  for  the  North  Pacific;  for  in  1870  our  fleet  of  whalers  numbered, 
according  to  the  Protectionist,  two  hundred  and  twenty-six,  averaging  three 
hundred  tons  each,  and  most  of  these  in  the  North  Pacific.  In  the  Southern 
Ocean,  and  in  all  waters,  we  need  Christian  ports  to  facilitate  and  increase 
commerce  and  to  add  to  its  permanent  safety  and  comfort. 

*  As  early  as  1840  the  United  States  Exploring  Squadron,  under  Commodore  Wilkes 
spent  $60,000  for  supplies  at  this  one  port.  See  History  of  Sandwich  Islands  by  Dr. 
Anderson,  p.  177. 


f 


0 


DO  MISSIONS  PAY  ? 


Not  alone  upon  the  highways  of  the  ocean  do  we  need  Christianity,  but 
also  on  the  land.  Had  we  sent  as  many  missionaries  into  our  Western  Ter¬ 
ritories  as  we  have  soldiers,  at  one-tenth  of  the  expense,  how  many  scenes 
of  bloodshed  and  massacre  might  have  been  spared,  and  the  traveler  or  the 
sojourner  be  as  safe  there  as  here.  Even  the  railroads  across  the  continent 
would  be  safer,  more  profitable  and  far  pleasanter,  were  all  our  Aborigines 
converted  to  Christianity. 

Christian  Missions  incite  enterprise  and  thus  facilitate  intercommunica¬ 
tion.  The  day  has  come  when  the  great  highways  of  the  world  must  be 
shortened.  And  this  is  being  done.  Fifty  years  ago  a  short  voyage  to 
China  occupied  many  weary  months.  Now  wTe  see  emblazoned,  “  Round 
the  World  in  Seventy-four  dayts.”  We  can  no  longer  endure  or  afford 
the  old  ways  of  travel.  They  are  too  slow,  too  long.  Rapid  communica¬ 
tion  is  essential  to  the  present  condition  of  the  activities  of  life.  Hence 
the  great  thoroughfares  must  be  shortened,  new  routes  opened,  and  greater 
speed  in  travel  attained.  The  first  visitors  to  California  were  content  to 
go  around  Cape  Horn.  Soon  dreams  of  gold  urged  them  across  the 
Isthmus  of  Panama  by  great  labor  and  exposure.  Now  it  is  crossed  by 
rail ;  and  not  content  with  that,  commerce  seeks  a  ship  canal  across  the 
south  of  Mexico,  from  the  Bay  of  Campeachy  to  the  Gulf  of  Tehuantepec, 
shortening  the  distance  to  San  Francisco  more  than  16,000  miles.  And 
this  is  no  light  matter  when  the  annual  trade  with  the  western  coast 
will  not  be  less  than  $300,000,000. 

The  commerce  of  Europe  and  Asia  was  formerly  carried  on  around  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope.  Now  a  ship-canal  across  the  Isthmus  of  Suez  short¬ 
ens  the  distance  to  Calcutta,  Bombay,  or  Canton,  more  than  one-half.  Soon 
that  will  be  too  long,  and  a  railroad  from  Beyrut,  on  the  Eastern  coast  of 
the  Mediterranean,  by  Tadmor,  in  the  Wilderness,  to  the  Euphrates  and 
thence  to  the  Persian  Gulf,  will  be  demanded.  This  will  again  greatly 
shorten  the  time  to  Bombay.  From  Beyrut  to  the  Euphrates  is  about  350 
miles,  and  thence  to  the  Persian  Gulf  about  500  miles — a  railroad  no  longer 
than  from  Philadelphia  to  Louisville,  Ky. 

Now,  the  success  of  new  routes  depends  upon  the  civilization  and  Chris¬ 
tianization  of  the  people  among  whom  they  are  laid.  Christianity  creates 
enterprise,  begets  commerce,  inspires  energy  and  ensures  success.  Com¬ 
merce  and  its  facilities  do  not  prosper  with  ignorance  and  barbarism.  The 
light  and  energizing  spirit  of  true,  living  Christianity  are  necessary.  Spain 
is  not  barbarous,  but  for  lack  of  vital  religion  she  is  inactive,  and  hence 
almost  without  railroads  and  lighthouses.  Mexico  is  the  same.  They  are 
each  missionary  fields,  and  must  have  the  Bible  and  the  true  Gospel  to  pre¬ 
pare  the  way  for  the  success  of  commercial  enterprise.  Cupidity  has  open¬ 
ed  Australia  and  New  Zealand.  But  in  those  lands  the  missionary  has  gone 
with  the  pioneer  gold  digger,  making  his  life  tolerable  and  his  work  a  suc¬ 
cess.  But  gold  is  not  found  in  most  heathen  countries,  and  the  Gospel 
must  be  the  pioneer,  and  commerce  and  trade  be  content  to  follow  in  its 


DO  MISSIONS  PAT? 


wake.  As  the  vernal  sun  and  rain  must  prepare  the  earth  for  the  plow  and 
the  seed,  so  must  the  Gospel  and  education  prepare  a  people  for  commerce 
and  trade. 

Missions  increase  permanent  wealth.  “  God  created  this  world  not  in 
vain  ;  he  formed  it  to  be  inhabited.’’  It  is  Christ’s ;  and  we,  as  loyal  sub¬ 
jects,  are  bound  to  bring  it  into  subjection  to  him.  He  is  our  elder  brother, 
and  love  to  him  should  prompt  us  to  subdue  and  beautify  his  domain.  The 
Gospel  of  J esus  Christ  alone  has  power  to  make  the  desert  bud  and  blos¬ 
som  as  the  rose.  Its  gentle  reign  brings  peace  and  prosperity  ;  its  magic 
touch  thrills  every  nerve,  awakes  every  power  of  man,  and  sets  the  grand¬ 
est  machinery  of  society  at  work.  Some  of  the  richest  portions  of  the 
earth  are  yet  to  be  subjected  to  civilization  and  to  Christ.  The  basin  of  the 
Amazon  contains  over  2,000,000  square  miles,  over  1,280,000,000  square 
acres,  or  more  than  64,000,000  farms  of  twenty  acres  each.  Allow  six  per¬ 
sons  to  each  farm  and  it  gives  a  population  of  384,000,000,  or  one-third  of 
the  present  population  of  the  earth.  Its  present  population  is  only  two  or 
three  millions,  with  an  average  of  over  two  hundred  acres  to  each  person, 
when,  with  its  vast  fertility,  every  rood  might  yield  bread  for  a  man. 
Carry  the  Gospel  thither  and  people  the  country  with  active,  intelligent 
Christians,  and  what  treasures  of  wealth  will  be  created  for  commerce  and 
for  Christ !  With  its  plentitude  of  vegetation  all  utilized,  what  a  magnifi¬ 
cent  domain  for  him  who  created  it !  Think  of  our  own  country  increased 
ten  fold  in  population  and  in  wealth,  and  you  have  what  the  basin  of  the 
Amazon  will  be. 

We  have  not  time  to  speak  of  those  vast  peninsulas,  Southern  Asia  and 
Africa,  the  heart  of  the  latter  extending  3,000  miles  east  and  west,  and 
nearly  2,000  miles  north  and  south,  embracing  a  territory  of  almost 
6,000,000  square  miles,  producing  the  choicest  indigenous  products  of  the 
Torrid  Zone,  and  capable  of  supporting  the  entire  present  population  of 
the  earth.  Cotton,  that  king  of  products,  is  perennial,  the  same  plants 
lasting  several  years,  and  often  giving  two  crops  of  good  staple  a  year. 

What  missions  propose  is  to  open  such  countries  to  commerce,  to  de- 
velope  their  various  resources,  to  improve  and  increase  their  agriculture, 
to  cultivate  the  arts,  to  establish  manufactories,  to  enrich  the  world  with 
their  products,  to  educate  and  convert  the  people,  and  make  them  product¬ 
ive  in  commerce,  arts,  literature,  civilization  and  Christianity. 

Christian  missions  aid  science,  art  and  literature.  Missionaries  to  our 
Indians  first  explored  and  demonstrated  the  practicability  of  a  wagon 
route  over  the  Rocky  Mountains.  The  missionary,  Whitman,  saved  for 
us  Oregon  and  Washington  Territory,  and  perhaps  California.  American 
missionaries  have  explored  and  mapped  out  Palestine,  Syria,  Turkey,  Persia, 
etc.;  German  missionaries,  Abyssinia  and  Eastern  Africa;  the  English, 
Madagascar  and  the  Islands  of  the  Pacific ;  the  Moravians  taught  us  about 
all  we  know  of  *  the  Greenlanders  and  the  Esquimaux;  while  Moffat  and 
Livingstone  have  been  leading  geographical  authorities  on  Southern  and 


8 


-  "> 


DO  MISSIONS  PAY  % 


Central  Africa.  In  astronomy,  botany,  mineralogy,  in  collecting  rare 
specimens  of  Oriental  curiosities  illustrative  of  almost  unknown  nations, 
their  labors  are  invaluable.  The  learned  Karl  Ritter  says :  “  Their  con¬ 
tributions,  diffused  through  essays,  quarterlies,  and  various  other  publica¬ 
tions,  have  become  a  part  of  the  world’s  knowledge.”  The  value  of  these 
contributions  has  been  acknowledged  by  many  of  our  most  learned  men. 
For  important  labors,  then,  in  favor  of  science,  literature,  art,  commerce 
and  religion,  the  world  of  commerce  and  letters  owes  Foreign  Missions  a 
large  balance  over  and  above  what  they  have  cost. 

Had  a  World’s  Congress  appointed  a  High  Commission  to  make  the 
same  scientific  investigations,  collect  and  communicate  the  same  informa¬ 
tion,  and  set  at  work  the  same  educational  and  philanthropic  influences,  to 
say  nothing  of  the  cultivation  of  morality  and  religion,  .their  main  work, 
instead  of  costing  $5,242,716*  annually,  it  would  have  required  a  greatly 
increased  sum. 


in. - THE  SUCCESS  OF  FOKEIGN  MISSIONS. 

It  is  a  very  common  impression  among  those  not  well  read  in  the  his¬ 
tory  of  missions,  that  their  support  is  a  very  doubtful  kind  of  charity — 
that  much  of  what  is  given  never  reaches  the  foreign  field,  being  swallowed 
up  in  the  salaries  of  agents  and  officers,  rents,  exchange,  etc.,  little  being 
left  for  direct  mission  work.  Pertinent  to  this  impression  is  the  sarcasm  of 
one  who  being  asked  for  a  donation,  said,  “  Here  is  a  dollar  for  the  heathen 
and  four  to  get  it  to  them.” 

The  following  statement  from  “  The  Hand-Book  of  Foreign  Missions,”  f 
is  a  definite  and  sufficient  answer  for  all  such  objections :  “  During  the 
first  seventeen  years  of  its  history,  the  Board  expended  in  its  administra¬ 
tion  111  per  cent. ;  for  the  next  seventeen  years  4-i-  per  cent.  ;  for  the  last 
four  years  4  per  cent.” 

Our  Missionary  Boards  will  not  suffer  in  comparison  with  any  other 
charitable  or  commercial  financial  management  in  our  land  ;  and  if  put  in 
comparison  with  some  of  our  popular  commercial  institutions,  they  will 
command  unlimited  confidence  for  their  financial  sagacity,  prudence  and 
economy. 

Again,  there  is  a  common  impression  that  very  little  has  been  done  by 
our  missionaries — that  they  work  under  great  discouragements,  and  are  to 
be  praised  for  the  constancy  of  a  cheerful  hope,  rather  than  for  the  abund¬ 
ant  fruits  and  success  of  their  labor.  A  few  facts  will  correct  this  false 
impression. 

The  foreign  field  for  the  past  ten  years  has  yielded  more  converts  in  pro¬ 
portion  to  the  labor  expended,  than  the  home  field. 

*  Land  of  the  Veda — Table  IV. 

f  Published  by  the  Presbyterian  Board  of  Foreign  Missions. 


DO  MISSIONS  PAY? 


9 


The  number  added  to  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  our  land  in 
1870  on  profession  of  faith,  compared  with  the  whole 


membership  was  .... 
The  gain  of  Foreign  Missions  as  a  whole  . 
Gain  of  the  A.  B.  0.  F.  M.  as  a  whole 
“  Presbyterian  Missions  in  India 
A.  B.  C.  F.  M.  in  Eastern  Turkey 
Presbyterian  Missions  in  China  . 


et 


u 


6  per  cent. 
12  “ 

14  per  cent. 

16 
18 

25 


u 


<c 


« 


This  statement  shows  a  heavy  preponderance  in  favor  of  conversions  on 
the  foreign  field.  In  the  Sandwich  Islands  alone,  “the  number  of  persons 
received  into  church  fellowship  on  profession  of  faith,  is  more  than  equal 
to  the  present  population  over  four  years  of  age,  amounting  in  all  to  55,300, 
or  on  an  average  about  1400  to  each  ordained  missionary.”*  “  The  number 
received  into  twenty  churches  in  the  twenty-six  years  following  1837,  was 
49,713,  which  is  an  annual  average  of  about  1900.”  f 

Not  much  less  than  300,000  Christian  converts  in  communities  having 
renounced  heathenism,  and  numbering  1,151,721,  testify  to  the  eminent 
success  of  Christian  missions.  Over  31,000  Christian  laborers  are  to-day 
in  the  field  of  the  world.  More  than  626,000  youth  are  in  Christian  schools. 
In  India  and  Burmah  there  are  7,480  missionaries,  native  preachers  and 
catechists  ;  nearly  3,000  stations  and  out-stations  ;  70,857  communicants  ; 
137,326  youth  in  schools,  and  3,584  pious  hoys  being  educated  for  a  life  of 
Christian  labor.”;];  The  Baptists  have  made  the  Karens  of  Burmah  a  Chris¬ 
tian  people ;  the  American  Board  have  done  the  same  for  the  Sandwich 
Islands  ;  the  Moravians  for  Greenland  ;  the  Wesleyans  for  the  Feegee  and 
Friendly  Isles,  and  the  Independents  for  Madagascar.  Extensive  self-sup¬ 
porting  churches,  and  even  whole  conferences,  have  been  organized  in  Aus¬ 
tralia,  Eastern  British  America,  Canada,  France,  Siberia,  Sandwich  Isles 
and  Oceanica,  all  of  which  were  once  “  missions,”  and  are  now  not  only 
self-supporting,  but  even  aiding  the  parent  church  in  their  evangelizing 
efforts,  or  else  supporting  missions  of  their  own. 

In  more  than  three  hundred  Islands  of  the  Pacific,  in  Northern  Turkey, 
in  Persia,  in  Hindoostan,  in  Burmah,  in  China,  in  Madagascar,  South  Africa, 
Liberia  and  Sierra  Leone,  a  great  multitude  have  been  won  to  Christ.  The 
largest  church  in  the  world,  numbering  4,500  members,  is  in  Hilo,  on  the 
•island  of  Hawaii,  not  yet  fifty  years  removed  from  the  most  debased  sav- 
ageism.  Over  90,000  Feegeeans  gather  regularly  for  Sabbath  worship, 
who,  within  a  score  of  years,  feasted  on  human  flesh.  In  1860  Madagas¬ 
car  had  only  a  few  hundred  scattered  and  persecuted  converts.  Now  the 
queen  and  her  prime  minister,  with  more  than  200,000  of  her  subjects  are 
adherents  to  Christianity.  The  island  is  Christian.  Fifty  years  ago  there 
was  not  a  native  Christian  in  the  Friendly  Islands.  Now  30,000  regularly 


f Annual  Report  of  A.  B.  C.  F.  M.  for  1870,  p.  29. 

Anderson’s  History  of  Sandwich  Islands,  p.  135. 
\  Tables  in  the  Land  of  the  Vedas. 


10 


DO  MISSIONS  PAT? 


meet  for  worship,  and  $15,000  are  yearly  contributed  to  religious  objects. 
“  Sixty  years  ago  there  was  not  a  solitary  native  Christian  in  Polynesia. 
Now  it  would  be  difficult  to  find  a  professed  idolator  in  the  islands  of  East¬ 
ern  or  Central  Polynesia,  where  Christian  missions  have  been  established. 
On  the  return  of  the  Sabbath  a  very  large  proportion  of  the  population  at¬ 
tend  the  worship  of  God,  and  in  some  instances  more  than  half  the  adult 
population  are  recognized  members  of  Christian  churches.’’  On  the  western 
coast  of  Africa  “are  found  over  100  organized  churches  and  some  15,000 
converts.  In  Sierra  Leone  50,000  civilized  Africans  worship  God  every 
Sabbath.”  Two  thousand  miles  of  coast  have  been  wrested  from  the  slave- 
trade,  and  the  church  and  school-house  substituted  for  the  slave-pen. 

The  various  mission  boards  or  societies  are  taking  possession  of  the  world 
in  the  name  of  Christ.  All  the  important  heathen  countries  are  more  or 
less  occupied,  and  influences  set  at  work  which  will  soon  and  certainly 
evangelize  them.  There  remain  but  few  countries  to  enter,  and  those  of 
little  influence  among  the  nations.  The  principal  exceptions  are  Central 
and  Northern  Asia,  Arabia,  the  heart  of  Africa  and  the  Indians  of  British 
America.  Scattered  over  China,  Japan,  Hindoostan,  Persia,  Turkey, 
East,  South,  West  and  North  Africa,  Madagascar,  Greenland  and  the  isles 
of  the  Pacific,  occupying  the  best  stragetic  points,  are  the  31,000  Christian 
laborers  of  all  kinds,  instituting  a  system  of  operations,  which,  with  God’s 
blessing,  will,  in  reasonable  judgment,  within  the  next  generation,  leave  not 
a  vestige  of  heathenism  on  now  occupied  fields. 

In  China  so  recently  opened  to  the  Gospel,  “  missions  have  been  estab¬ 
lished  in  40  walled-cities  and  360  villages,  making  a  total  of  400  stations 
and  out-stations,  which  constitute  centres  of  Christian  light  and  knowledge 
to  regions  adjacent.”'*  “  Over  400  native  preachers  have  been  raised  up  who 
are  constantly  employed  in  preaching  the  Gospel  to  their  countrymen. 
About  10,000  converts  have  been  received  into  the  churches,  of  whom  some 
have  already  gone  home  to  be  with  Jesus,  while  some  7,000  are  at  present 
communicants,  f 

There  are  at  this  present  time  being  educated  in  primary  or  common 
schools,  in  female  seminaries,  in  training  schools,  in  colleges  and  in  theo¬ 
logical  seminaries,  over  600,000  youth  of  both  sexes,  nearly  all  of  whom 
are  Protestant,  and  many  hopefully  pious.  These  are  to  go  out  and  work 
for  Christianity. 

“  To  compute  the  results  of  modern  missions  is  simply  impossible. 
Figures  cannot  express  them;  nor  are  they  visible  to  the  human  eye. 
But  it  is  interesting  to  know,  that  outside  the  bounds  of  Christendom 
there  are  four  thousand  centres  of  Christian  work  and  Gospel  teaching ; 
2,500  congregations,  273,000  communicants,  and  1,350,000  nominal  Chris¬ 
tians.”  The  Rev.  Dr.  Mullens,  Corresponding  Secretary  of  the  London 
Missionary  Society,  says :  “  In  more  than  three  hundred  islands  of  Eastern 

*  There  are  1700  walled  cities  in  China  with  scores  of  thouscrads  of  villages. 

f  Premium  Tract  by  Rev.  J.  Knowlton. 


DO  MISSIONS  PAY? 


11 


and  Southern  Polynesia,  the  Gospel  has  swept  heathenism  entirely  away. 
The  missionaries  of  the  four  great  societies  (English)  have  gathered  400,000 
people  under  Christian  influences,  of  whom  a  quarter  of  a  million  are  liv¬ 
ing,  and  50,000  of  these  are  communicants.” 

But  the  success  and  value  of  Christian  missions  are  not  manifested  alone 
by  the  number  of  converts ;  they  are  seen  as  well  in  the  fact  that  the 
work  of  missions  has  blest  the  Church  with  a  new  love  and  devotion  to 
the  Master’s  work.  It  is  a  significant  fact  that  the  revivals  that  blest  the 
churches  in  1815-20  followed  the  development  of  the  spirit  of  missions  in 
1812 ;  and  those  churches  that  have  been  most  prayerful  and  liberal,  have 
ever  been  most  blest.  And  the  same  truth  is  patent  in  our  missions.  Their 
reflex  spirit  has  richly  paid  in  souls  at  home  as  well  as  in  heathen  lands  ; 
and  this  is  only  the  fulfilment  of  the  Master’s  promise :  “  He  that  watereth, 
shall  be  watered  also  himself “  Give,  and  it  shall  be  given  unto  you.” 

Missions  have  taught  the  Church  lessons  of  self-denial,  benevolence 
and  consecration,  by  such  labor  and  self-sacrifice  in  converts ,  as  have  seldom 
been  witnessed  since  the  days  of  the  Apostles.  The  converted  Friendly  Is¬ 
landers  of  their  deep  poverty,  during  the  year  1870,  raised  all  the  expenses 
of  their  mission,  and  contributed  beside,  $17,500  to  send  the  Gospel  to  re¬ 
gions  beyond.  The  native  Christians  of  India  contributed,  in  1870,  $43,101 
towards  the  support  and  extension  of  missions.*  The  Hawaiian  churches 
gave,  in  1870,  $31,070  in  gold,  and  last  year  $40,000  to  carry  the  Gospel  to 
the  Marquesas  Islands.  Fourteen  of  that  group  have  been  Christianized 
solely  by  the  labor  and  at  the  expense  of  the  Hawaiian  Churches,  the  mem¬ 
bers  of  nine  native  churches  giving  upon  an  average  $4.10  for  each  mem¬ 
ber.}  One  single  church,  in  1867,  had  in  the  field  five  Foreign  Missionaries 
with  their  wives,  and  others  preparing  to  go.  China  has  over  400  native 
preachers — one  in  every  twenty-five  of  their  converts.  Native  teachers 
at  Corisco,  on  three  dollars  a  month,  give  one-fifth  of  their  earnings  to 
Christ.  Fifty-seven  churches  in  the  Sandwich  Islands  sent  abroad  seven¬ 
teen  Foreign  Missionaries.  At  the  same  ratio  the  Presbyterian  Church 
should  send  1372,  or  ten  times  our  present  number.  Their  14,000  church 
members  gave,  last  year,  $40,000.  At  the  same  ratio,  our  446,000  communi¬ 
cants  should  give  $1,274,000,  supposing  our  members  no  richer  than  theirs. 

Missions  have  developed  a  better  way  of  giving,  and  a  higher  standard 
of  Christian  Faith.  Blind  Johannes’  sermon  on  Tithing  is  worth  to  the 
Christian  Church  tenfold  more  than  all  the  Turkish  missions  have  cost.  It 


is  like  a  new  revelation  ;  and  its  Biblical  spirit  wull  certainly  make  it  in 
the  Church  the  manner  and  measure  of  giving.  The  mission  churches  and 
converts  are  a  living  example  to  us  of  self-denial  and  almost  Apostolic  zeal ; 
and  they  have  given  renewed  witnesses  to  the  power  of  Christian  faith  ; 
thus  refreshing  the  Church  with  the  assurance  that  the  constancy  of  the 
martyr  is  not  lost.  The  persecutions  in  Madagascar,  in  India  and  Turkey, 

*  Christian  World, ,  Jac.  1872.  p.  19. 
f  History  of  Sandwich  Islands,  by  Dr.  Anderson,  p.  323. 


1  o 

Ijj 


DO  MISSIONS  PAY? 


are  illustrious  examples  of  unwavering  faith  and  love  even  unto  death. 
Old  Soman  persecution  and  its  Christian  firmness,  have  hardly  exceeded 

examples  in  our  own  missions. 

Do  you  say  the  Gospel  is  not  needed  to  help  commerce  ?  that  the  products 
of  enterprise  are  independent  of  religion  ?  In  reply  we  only  ask,  why 
commerce,  arts,  manufactures,  agriculture  and  literature,  flourish  only  in 
Christian  lands  ?  Why  inventions  are  only  found  there  ?  Why  knowledge, 
virtue,  enterprise,  skill  and  success  grew  in  the  light  of  a  pure  Christianity, 
and  ignorance,  degradation  and  poverty,  so  repugnant  to  the  progress 
of  society,  cluster  in  the  darkness  of  its  absence  ?  Look  where  you  will 
and  just  in  proportion  to  the  knowledge  and  purity  of  the  people,  just  in 
proportion  to  their  Bible  piety,  are  the  industries  flourishing,  and  wealth, 
comfort  and  happiness  equally  distributed. 

We  say,  then,  missions  do  pay.  Not  only  are  they  a  good  investment, 
but  the  best  a  Christian  nation  can  make.  They  give  returns  as  coon  as 
their  machinery  is  at  work,  and  continue  in  a  constantly  increasing  ratio. 
We  ourselves,  and  the  very  land  on  which  we  live,  bear  ample  testimony  to 
their  value  as  an  investment.  Our  ancestry,  “immeasurably  more  de¬ 
graded  than  the  natives  of  China  and  India  are  to-day/’  were  raised  from 
that  condition  by  Christian  missionaries ;  and  every  rood  of  our  land,  ser¬ 
viceable  to  commerce  and  the  arts,  has  been  reclaimed  from  the  waste  of 
heathenism  by  Christian  labor. 

In  conclusion,  the  world  is  white,  all  ready  to  harvest,  and  the  Church 
has  ample  means  and  power  to  carry  the  Gospel  ever  the  whole  earth  by 
this  generation,  so  that  our  children’s  children  might  be  translated  from  the 
millennium  church  to  the  church  glorified.  Did  we  possess  a  tithe  of  the 
spirit  of  the  Apostles,  and  first  Christians,  when  they  went  everywhere 
preaching  the  Gospel  of  the  Kingdom,  or  the  spirit  of  many  of  cur  con¬ 
verts  from  heathenism,  with  our  vast  facilities,  how  mightily  vU  0  Oi  VJ  spel 
would  roll  on,  until  the  earth  should  be  filled  with  the  glory  of  the  nord 
as  the  waters  cover  the  sea.  We  have  money  enough.  Drinking  con¬ 
sumes  $600,000,000  annually,  more  than  one  hundred  times  as  much  as 
Foreign  Missions.  Tobacco  nearly  as  much  more.  What  the  Church  needs 
is  to  get  rid  of  her  carnality,  and  to  “arise,  and  shine,”  and  “  put  on  her 
beautiful  garments.”  She  needs  consecration  to  the  Master’s  work— deep, 
intense,  unaffected,  personal  holiness.  She  needs  the  same  energy,  enter¬ 
prise  and  perseverance  in  her  work  for  Christ’s  Kingdom,  as  we  now  give  to 
the  world  ;  and  then  speedily  might  the  nations  join  in  that  glorious  jubi¬ 
late  :  “  The  kingdoms  of  this  Would  are  become  the  Kingdoms  of  cub 
Lord  and  of  his  Christ  ;  and  ee  shall  reign  forever  and  ever.” 


DO  MISSIONS  PAY? 


13 


APPENDIX. — Table  I. 


Statement  showing  trade  with  the  Sandwich  Islands  during  the  year  ended  June  30,  1871, 
supplied  by  the  Bureau  of  Statistics  of  the  Treasury  Department,  Washington,  D.  C. 


Ports. 

Imports. 

Exports. 

Domestic  Merchandise 
and  Produce. 

Foreign  Merchandise. 

Boston,  Mass . . 

New  Bedford,  Mass . 

New  London,  Conn . 

New  York,  N.  Y . 

....$5,357 
....59,675 
• . ...  ..105 

. $152,980 

. $1,504 

. 359 

. 33 

Oregon,  Oregon . 

.  ..108,957 

.  26,744 

Puget  Sound,  W.  Terr’y. 
San  Francisco,  Cal . 

. 4018 

. 38,537 

..  .901,114 

.  604,424 

. 41,509 

Willamette,  Oregon. . . . 

....  73^928 

. 17,700 

Total . 

$1,153,154 

. $840,385 

. $43,730 

APPENDIX.— Table  II. 


Statement  showing  trade  with  the  British  Possessions  in  Africa  during  the  year  ended  June 
30,  1871,  supplied  by  the  Bureau  of  Statistics  of  the  Treasury  Department  at  Washington,  D.  C. 

Exports. 


Ports. 


Baltimore,  Md . 

Boston,  Mass . 

New  Bedford,  Mass. . . . 
New  London,  Conn. . . . 

New  York,  N.  Y . 

Salem,  Mass . 


Total , 


Imports. 


$1,710,492 

. 2,319 

. 1,498 

...229,585 

....10,350 


$1,960,250 


Domestic  Merchandise 
and  Produce. 


$16,038 

905,139 


146,067 

,.23,376 


.$1,091,220 


Foreign  Merchandise. 


,$11,843 
. 774 


.116 


$12,733 


APPENDIX.— Table  III. 

Statement  showing  trade  with  Liberia  during  the  year  ended  June  30,  1871,  supplied  by  the 
Bureau  of  Statistics  of  the  Treasury  Department,  Washington,  D.  C. 


/ 

Ports. 

Imports. 

Expc 

Domestic  Merchandise 
and  Produce. 

)RTS. 

Foreign  Merchandise. 

Baltimore  Md . 

.  ..$11,642 

. $9,246 

. $1,396 

Boston  Mass .  . 

. 24,620 

. 622 

New  York,  N  Y 

.62  322 

. 57,960 

. 1,425 

Total . 

. $91,826 

. $3,443 

14 


DO  MISSIONS  PAY? 


APPENDIX  IV. 

As  we  have  referred  in  this  tract  prominently  to  the  Sandwich  Islands, 
for  any  who  may  doubt,  or  wish  to  know  concerning  the  present  civil  and 
religious  status  of  that  people,  we  copy  the  following  brief  testimonies  from 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Anderson’s  “  History  of  the  Sandwich  Islands/’ 

The  Hon.  C.  C.  Harris,  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs,  in  a  speech  at  the 
National  Jubilee  of  the  Islands,  held  at  Honolulu,  June,  1870,  says:  “In 
1825,  the  Hawaiians  were  ignorant  and  debased.  ...  In  1870,  we  see  them 
advanced  to  a  high  degree  of  Christian  knowledge,  general  education,  civ¬ 
ilization  and  material  prosperity.  The  result  is  due  for  the  most  part, 
under  God,  to  the  labors  of  the  American  Missionaries.”  See  p.  351. 

The  Rev.  N.  G.  Clark,  D.  D.,  Foreign  Secretary  of  the  American  Board 
of  Missions  in  his  address  at  the  Jubilee  of  1870,  said  of  the  Islands  :  “  A 
heathen  nation  has  become  Christian ;  the  Bible,  a  Christian  literature, 
schools  and  churches  are  open  and  free  to  all ;  law  and  order  have  taken 
the  place  of  individual  caprice  ;  an  independent  government  shares  in  the 
respect  and  courtesies  of  the  civilized  world  ;  a  poor,  wretched  barter  with 
a  few  passing  ships,  has  been  changed  for  a  commerce  that  is  reckoned  by 
millions  of  dollars  ;  but  more  than  all,  and  better  than  all,  the  seeds  of 
Christian  culture,  ripened  on  this  soil,  have  been  borne  by  the  winds  and 
found  lodgment  in  lands  thousands  of  miles  away — in  Marquesas  and  in 
Micronesia.”  See  p.  348. 

The  missionaries  assembled  at  Honolulu  in  the  year  1857,  bore  the  fol¬ 
lowing  testimony  in  their  annual  letter  to  the  A.  B.  C.  F.  M. 

“  Our  towns  are  rising,  our  roads  are  improving.  Agriculture  and  in¬ 
dustry  are  assuming  increasing  importance.  Our  government,  in  its  legis¬ 
lative,  executive,  and  judiciary  departments,  has  acquired  organic  form, 
and  is  moving  on  in  the  discharge  of  its  functions.  Our  schools  are  sus¬ 
tained.  Our  islands  are  being  dotted  over  with  improved  church  edifices. 
Law  is  supreme ;  order  prevails  ;  protection  of  all  human  rights  is  nearly 
complete;  there  is  little  complaining  or  suffering  in  the  land;  shocking 
crimes  are  rare  ;  and  it  may  be  doubted  whether  the  sun  shines  upon  a 
more  peaceful  people.”  See  p.  266. 

As  early  as  1853,  Chief- Justice  Lee,  recorded  this  testimony:  ccIn  no 
part  of  the  world  are  life  and  property  more  safe  than  in  the  Sandwich  Is¬ 
lands.  Murders,  robberies,  and  the  higher  class  of  felonies,  are  quite  un¬ 
known  here  ;  and  in  city  and  country  we  retire  to  our  sleep  conscious  of 
the  most  entire  security.  The  stranger  may  travel  from  one  end  of  the 
group  to  the  other,  over  mountains  and  through  woods,  sleeping  in  grass 
huts,  unarmed,  alone  and  unprotected,  with  any  amount  of  treasure  on  his 
person,  and  without  a  tithe  of  the  vigilance  required  in  older  and  more 
civilized  countries,  go  unrobbed  of  a  penny.”  See  p.  267. 


CHRISTIANITY  PROMOTES  COMMERCE. 


“The  £3,000  we  have  just  paid  from  the  Samoa  Islands  to  the  Bible 
Society,  what  does  that  represent  ?  So  much  native  produce  passed  into 
the  stores  of  merchants.  And  when  you  hear  that  the  Samoans  give  to 
the  London  Missionary  Society  a  contribution  of  £1,000  a  year,  mark  the 
commercial  side  of  that ;  it  represents  £2,000  of  native  produce — cocoa- 
nut  oil,  arrow-root,  cotton  (for  the  natives  are  now  cotton-growers) — passed 
into  the  stores  of  merchants.  It  is  just  the  same  with  clothing,  which 
they  require  nowadays.  Why  do  they  require  clothing  ?  Ask  a  young 
woman,  selecting  her  dress  at  the  counter  of  the  merchant,  what  she  is 
going  to  do  with  it  ?  She  will  stare  at  you  for  putting  such  a  question, 
and,  if  she  condescends  to  reply,  it  will  be  some  such  curt  reply  as  this, 
£  Why  should  I  not  be  as  other  people  in  the  house  of  God  on  the  Lord’s 
day  ?’  Ask  the  young  man,  while  he  is  selecting  a  black  coat,  what  he  is 
going  to  do  with  it ;  he  will  give  you  the  same  reply,  perhaps ;  or,  per¬ 
haps,  he  will  tell  you  that,  as  this  is  the  month  in  which  they  are  in  the 
habit  of  giving  a  present  to  their  native  ministers,  that  he  is  going  to  give 
this  year  the  minister  a  present  of  a  black  coat.  These  natives  now  expend 
from  £50,000  to  £100,000  a-year ;  and  if  you  ask  them  why,  simply  that 
they  may  appear  decent  in  the  house  of  God  on  the  Lord’s-day.  Thus 
you  perceive  to  what  a  large  extent  the  advancement  of  Christianity  is  at 
the  same  time  the  advancement  of  the  interests  of  commerce.  Nay,  more 
— I  would  say,  blot  out  Christianity  from  Samoa,  and  send  the  people  back 
to  their  native  heathenism,  and  what  then  ?  The  merchants  may  shut  up 
their  stores  to-morrow,  the  trading  vessels  may  be  sent  elsewhere,  nothing 
would  remain  there.  I  say,  nothing  would  remain  there.  There  might 
be  a  little  traffic  in  powder  and  shot,  spirits  and  tobacco — at  the  best  a 
disreputable  traffic  among  such  a  people.  It  would  not  pay  expenses  ;  for 
it  could  only  be  carried  on  amid  treachery  of  every  name  and  form.” 

Spiritual  Results. — “  There  are  now,  I  believe,  in  heaven,  5,000  Samoans ; 
and  if  you  could  ask  them  to-night,  they  would  tell  you  that  they  were  led 
there  through  the  instrumentality  of  the  Missionary  Society.  I  believe 
we  could  gather  up  from  among  our  250  villages,  from  among  our  church¬ 
going  population  in  these  villages,  as  many  as  5,000  men ;  men  and  women 
who  believe  that  they  have  found  peace  with  God  through  the  Lord  J esus 
Christ,  and  are  striving  by  the  help  of  the  Divine  Spirit  to  live  a  new  life ; 
men  and  women  who,  I  believe,  have  just  as  good  a  hope  of  reaching  heaven 


16 


CHRISTIANITY  PROMOTES  COMMERCE. 


when  they  die  as  you  and  I  have.  If  one  soul  is  of  more  value  than  a 
whole  world,  tell  me  what  we  have  to  say?  of  these  twice  five  thousand  ? 
No  combination  of  the  most  gifted  minds  is  sufficient  to  answer  the  question. 
Eternity,  and  the  vantage-ground  of  the  intelligence  of  the  angels  of  God, 
are  required  to  form  even  a  distant  approximation  to  the  solution  of  the 
great  problem,  Would  that  the  men  who  speak  against  missions  knew 
what  they  were  talking  about ;  would  that  they  would  cease  speaking  on 
a  subject  of  which  they  know  so  little  !  For  their  incoherent  revilings  are 
just  as  absurd  as  might  be  the  utterances  of  a  man  born  blind,  if  he  were 
to  attempt  to  describe  the  colors  of  the  rainbow.  After  all,  it  is  not  so 
much  to  wonder  at.  You  hear  these  men  talk  about  the  failure  of  missions. 
The  same  men  will,  perhaps,  tell  you  that  salvation  through  Christ  is  a 
failure.  They  will  tell  you  that  the  Christian  Sabbath  is  a  failure — that 
the  preaching  of  the  Word  of  God  is  a  failure — nay,  more,  that  the  very 
Bible  itself  is  a  failure.  The  secret  of  it,  I  think,  we  have  in  the  simple 
"words  of  the  Apostle  Paul,  *  The  carnal  mind  is  enmity  against  God.’ 
Given  the  carnal  mind,  and  you  can  easily  conclude  what  will  follow  its 
enmity  towards  God’s  servants  and  God’s  work,  of  whatever  name  and 
form.” — Dr.  Turner . 


